Compatible
by MadDelight
Summary: Hiatus/completed. due to a lack of interest all around. from myself and readers. any interest? please see "Vacations From Ourselves".
1. Prologues

**Disclaimer: Bones originally belongs to Kathy Reichs, but is currently under the great care of Fox, Hart, Deschanel, and Boreanaz.**

**A/N: ORIGINALLY TITLED: O, Death. **

**Will include the last two episodes of Season 5 PLUS speculation on Season 6.**

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**Brennan's Prologue:**

Temperance Brennan knows death. She spends her life around the bones of murder victims. She is very well acquainted with death in all its forms. But this pain, it's a different kind of death, one like she's never before experienced. This doubt, this separation, this constant ache. It's something she's never dealt with before, at least, not to this capacity.

If her strong exterior is cracked will the fissures continue to spread?

Can Temperance be who she is without a strong shell?

Or, will death change her?

_Brennan wakes up, gasping. It's happened again. The nightmare's returned, and it's not just in her dreams._

_"Brennan was there too." Angela asserts as they stand in her office, facing the aftermath of Hodgins' near break down._

_"I'm fine." Brennan announces before bolting from the room. But does anyone else see her response as comical? Obviously a lie._

_"I have nightmares, Booth. You're drowning, Hodgins is bleeding. I can't save anyone." She finally lets the fear surface. To the one man she trusts completely. He offers her words of reassurance and pulls her into a hug. She's ready to cry into his shoulder. Can't she see how her rational mind is always a hindrance? Let that shell break, open up for him._

_But she doesn't. He doesn't push. And they behave as usual._

_But one thing has changed. She is unsure of herself. Unsure that she wants to do this work, solving murders. It is trying. It is painful, and with a cracked shell she cannot keep herself emotionally distant. But a more important thing the brilliant doctor has overlooked is trying to discover what first caused those fissures in her hard exterior. _

_Was it Booth? Who reached her heart?_

_Was it the connection to her friends?_

_Was she getting weak mentally because of her emotional ties?_

_Ties, which are fleeting and unnecessary in her eyes._

_Someone or something started those cracks in her perfectly polished shell._

_The gravedigger deepened them. _

_Now, the only way she can think to stop them is to question her very reason for being. Her work. No, not her work. Her work with Booth. Because her work is merely anthropological. Scientific. But her work now is a partnership. Symbiotic. _

_But, ever rational, she leaves him. Always protecting herself first and never quite getting the deeper message._

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**Booth's Prologue:**

Booth was uncertain. He had never been this uncertain in his life. His faith- his standard belief system had been shaken. And all because of one event. One little thing that had set this all in motion, and shaken Seeley Booth down to his very core.

He watched his son sleep, the pinnacle of innocence. He could only hope that Parker would never have to experience or see most of the things that Booth himself had been through during his life. Sometimes he worried over it, obsessed. So afraid because Parker wanted to be 'just like dad'. It was something he didn't want for his son. To cause deaths as a sniper, to see deaths as a crime solver. It could snatch away that beautiful innocence in the blink of an eye, or a snap of his fingers.

Booth sighed. It was true; he had been shaken, after looking death straight in the eye.

_"I can't believe they actually got hitched?" Booth grinned after the happy couple as they walked down the sidewalk. _

_"I know." Brennan glanced after her friends, but there was no happiness in her eyes. "I have the sense that everything is changing, Booth." _

_"We're still partners. Don't make any decisions about your future now." Booth threw up his defenses, trying to get his partner to listen._

_"I might need more than a little time, Booth." Brennan's voice held that hint of choked emotion. _

_"Let's just go inside and have one more drink." Booth took Brennan's hand, trying to pull her back into the bar._

_She yanked it away, guard up. "No, I'm tired, Booth."_

_He gave in, again. "Alright. Let's get you in a cab." He gestured for one. _

_Brennan climbed in and Booth lingered by the cab door. "Hey, I'll see you tomorrow, right?" His brown eyes held more sadness than any beautiful partner should've been able to bear. _

_But she shut the door, without so much as a goodbye. _

_For the second time in his life, he watched her drive away in a cab. Missing a moment. _

_For the second time in his life he let it go. Agreed with her easily. Made light of the situation. _

_For the... well, for more times than he could count, Booth let the woman he loved just drive away, without so much as a goodbye. _

How had this 'death' grasped them both by the hand?

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**A/N: Comments? Complaints?**


	2. One Day

**Disclaimer: Bones originally belongs to Kathy Reichs, but is currently under the great care of Fox, Hart, Deschanel, and Boreanaz.**

**A/N: Wow. Thanks for the encouraging response. **

**Here's chapter two, mon amis.**

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Booth stared after Brennan's cab until he could no longer see its lights. He let his shoulders sag in defeat, the realization of what could be changing was pressing on him like the weight of a boulder. She was running, and he knew that he couldn't stop her. She may not have wanted another drink, but he did. And now he needed one. He headed back into the bar.

Then, back at his apartment; Booth tipped back a few more. Until the thought of her leaving was no longer so unbearable, and the room began to spin. The couch would be his bed tonight, and he knew more than his back would hurt in the morning.

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Auburn hair, and light blue eyes, and soft lips, such soft lips. There was a ringing, a faint ringing that grew louder and louder, until his head ached.

The phone was ringing; it pulled Booth out of his dream-state. He reached over to answer, but the caller hung up before he could. He glanced at the caller ID. It was Bones.

Booth sat up and groaned. He knew sleeping on the couch was a bad idea. He rubbed at his eyes and glanced at the clock. He had to go pick Parker up in two hours. Booth walked into the kitchen and started some coffee, then headed towards his bathroom to jump in the shower.

After a cold shower, a few aspirin, and two cups of coffee, the hangover had waned enough that Booth could think straight.

He picked up his cell phone and pressed '2' for speed dial.

"Hey, Bones. What's up?" Booth asked.

"I called you an hour ago Booth." Brennan seemed stressed.

"I know. I was in the shower." Booth said by way of explanation. "What's wrong?"

"I..." Brennan struggled for words. "Can we grab some coffee?"

Booth couldn't begin to parse the subtext of what Brennan could possibly want. Though knowing her, it was nothing. Just work. "Uh, I can't Bones. I promised Parker I'd take him to the park today. I have to go pick him up now."

"Oh."

Did she almost sound... disappointed?

"You're more then welcome to come, Bones. Parker thinks you're great." Booth offered, without a second thought. He had no time to debate with her about this.

"But, it's your afternoon with Parker." Brennan began to protest.

Booth glanced at the clock. "If it's that important, come." He hung up the phone before his partner could object further.

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"Hi, Dr. Bones!" Parker exclaimed, hugging her the second they exited the SUV.

Brennan chuckled. "It's nice to see you again."

Parker beamed. Booth ruffled his son's hair.

"Race you to the park, dad?"

Booth shook his head. "You run along, I'll catch up to you."

Parker nodded and took off.

"Exuberant." Brennan noted.

"Yeah, Rebecca must've given him sugar." Booth shook his head, grinning.

Both partners walked in silence to the bench at the edge of the park, sitting side-by-side.

"Booth, I- " Brennan began, but Booth silenced her with a pained look.

"Don't do this." He muttered.

"You don't even know what I'm going to say." Brennan objected, surprised by Booth's sudden change in demeanor.

"No, but I'm pretty sure I've got a good idea what it's about." Booth reached over and slid his hand over hers. "It's a beautiful afternoon."

Brennan caught Booth's gaze and as blue melded with brown the rest of the world faded away, just for a moment.

"Just give me the day. The whole day. We'll get dinner after this, Thai food, have some drinks. Just give me a day." Booth wasn't going to let her go so easily this time. He wasn't ready. He needed more time. He couldn't let her go, not yet.

The hurt in his brown eyes must've conveyed enough, because Brennan nodded and entwined her fingers with his.

"It_ is_ beautiful." She noted, smiling as Parker waved to them.

Booth sat back, at ease, and waved to his son. "It is."

They made a perfect picture, framed by their togetherness. Both partners together were a complete entity. The center. Which must hold.

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**Comments?**


	3. Fight for Her

**Disclaimer: Bones originally belongs to Kathy Reichs, but is currently under the great care of Fox, Hart, Deschanel, and Boreanaz.**

**A/N: Complete conjecture on my part. Probably will alter this a bit after the finale, but then again, perhaps not.**

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Booth's table was cluttered with Thai take-out boxes. Booth sat back and took a swig of his beer. Brennan hadn't touched hers, and she had barely eaten.

"We've been over this, Bones. You've got to eat." Booth gave her a sideways glance.

"I'm not hungry, Booth." There was an edge of anger to her voice. She didn't like being taken care of, like she was a child, and she often made that clear.

Booth sighed and rubbed his temples. "I really don't need this." He said, swishing around the alcohol in its dark bottle. He took a long pull regardless, setting in on the table when he was done.

"Booth, I'm leaving the Jeffersonian. I'm an anthropologist, not a crime solver. I'm through dealing with murders." Brennan said, in her usual way.

Booth threw his guard up; he wasn't letting her go that easy; he had done that enough lately. "Don't you mean you're through with murderers? Face it; the gravedigger trial was tough on all of us, but toughest on you. You don't like..." Booth stopped himself; he didn't want to fight with her.

Brennan was on the brink of shouting. "I'm not a child, Booth. It was just a case."

"Then why is it making you quit working on murders? We're the center. We've got to hold, Bones. If you leave, you're not just leaving all your friends at the Jeffersonian but you're ending our partnership too!" Booth ranted he couldn't just let this go.

"I can do whatever I want Booth, it's my choice." Brennan ranted back. "You'll be fine, without me." And the anger in her voice made that statement almost comical.

Booth stared down at his hands, his brown eyes filled with the same sadness from when he watched her drive away in that cab. "I can't just watch you go, Bones. Not again." He hooked a finger under her chin and lightly turned her head to make her face him.

Her blue eyes were welling with tears. "What do you want from me?"

Booth and Brennan were a breath apart. He stared into her eyes seriously. "Do you remember that night? The night I wanted to try 'us' and I just gave in, just let you go?"

Brennan nodded.

"You still wanted our partnership. Even though it's been hurting me since then, I said yes. Now you're just going to leave?" Booth didn't break eye contact.

"Life is always changing, Booth. Our emotional ties are ephemeral and undependable. It's not something I can logically base my life around." Brennan's voice was choked with a mixture of emotions.

"That night, in Sweets office. You said that we weren't in love, and I only half heartedly agreed with you." Booth persisted. His lips were nearly touching Brennan's now as he spoke. Paused in the moment. Booth on the brink of telling her everything, if only it would get her to stay. If only she could be that person to stay with him for fifty years. "I don't want you to change, Bones. I don't need you to change. I love you just the way you are."

Tears escaped Brennan's eyes and slid down her cheeks. Booth didn't dare kiss her like that night, but instead pulled her into his arms and held her as her tears began to flow freely.

"You don't have to give this up. Not everything has to be logical." Booth rubbed her shoulder lightly.

She pulled out of his arms slowly. "This can't happen." She stood and headed towards the door.

He followed after her; this was the persistence he never had the initiative to take before, fearing it would only make her flea faster.

With her hand on the door handle, Booth didn't dare touch her or grab her to make her stay. It would only result in a harsh slap or right hook.

"Stay." He blurted out, before he had any time to process if that was a good idea or not. He needed this partnership; after five years how could she just walk away? How did they not feel the same thing? She had to feel it; she was just running.

"Goodnight Booth." Brennan stepped forward and kissed him on the cheek, shutting the door behind her on the way out.

Booth sighed and collapsed against the doorframe. It wasn't her leaving that was eating at him; it was the uncertainty that tomorrow held.

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**A/N: Comments? Brennan chapter? Or we liking Booth?**


	4. Beginning

**Disclaimer: Bones originally belongs to Kathy Reichs, but is currently under the great care of Fox, Hart, Deschanel, and Boreanaz.**

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Booth paced along the length of the Jeffersonian. As far as he was concerned she had to come into work eventually. All of her things were still in her office. He just had to wait it out.

Angela was striding down the hallway towards him. "Booth." Her eyes instantly filled with sympathy.

"You knew about this, right?" Booth asked.

Angela nodded. "Yeah, Cam told me right after Brennan brought it up."

Booth sighed. "Any idea if she's coming in today?"

Angela shook her head. "She's probably going to try to make a clean break."

Booth sat down on the stairs that led up to the platform. Angela sat down next to him, placing her hand on his shoulder. "Why don't you just... tell her how you feel?"

Booth glanced down at his hands. "I did."

Angela's face lit up. "And?"

Booth made a gesture like 'look at where I am'. And Angela's excitement faded just as fast. "I'll talk to her." She insisted.

Booth shook his head. "No, I'll deal with it."

Angela nodded and gave Booth's shoulder another pat before heading off to talk to Hodgins. Booth glanced at his watch. He couldn't wait around all day. He had to head back to the office.

Booth let himself into his partner's office and left a note,_ diner 3pm._

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Booth sat at their usual table in the diner; he checked his watch. He had been sitting here an hour, waiting. It was obvious she wasn't coming. He paid the check, and headed to her place with a newfound determination.

He knocked on the door and waited.

She answered, seeming flustered. "What're you doing here Booth?"

"You're leaving." He said, it wasn't a question.

She nodded. "Tonight."

Only now did he notice the suitcases piled up by the door.

"Are you coming back?" Booth stared straight into his partner's light blue eyes.

"I don't know Booth. I need time." Brennan stated.

Booth was ready to push his way into her apartment. "Time? From what? From me? Didn't you hear anything I said yesterday Bones? I don't want you to change for me. I just want you."

Brennan shook her head, refusing the tears that should've been welling in her eyes. Ignoring the overwhelming feelings like any rational woman would. "Not now Booth."

She gave him a pleading look and he watched on, with hurt in his eyes as she shut the door.

She was leaving and he had actually tried to stop her this time. But he hadn't succeeded. It was almost worse for having tried and failed.

Their handshake with death was just beginning.

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**A/N: One more chapter before Thursday, or possibly two. Then many more to come. **


	5. Death I

**Disclaimer: Bones originally belongs to Kathy Reichs, but is currently under the great care of Fox, Hart, Deschanel, and Boreanaz.**

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**Two Months Later**

Drowning. There was pressure in her chest that made her feel like she was drowning. Her eyes welled with tears and the fissures in her strong shell began to deepen.

She had an escape from all this emotion and it was her work. The problem was that Brennan had left work, left her 'home' to get a reprieve from it all. Of course, she was still doing anthropological work, but still, it was different from her usual workday. What she had spent her life doing day in and day out for the past five years.

She shut her eyes tightly, anything to escape her torrent of feelings. But all she could see was Booth's brown eyes and the pain she had put in them.

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Booth watched Parker run for a long pass. His son threw him a perfect spiral. Booth had never seen a more beautiful sight.... well.

He caught the pass. "All right buddy! Nice job!" Booth praised his grinning son. He tossed a spiral back and Parker jumped to catch it. Parker fell to the grass with the football in his hands, beaming.

"Told you I've been practicing." Parker smiled, running up to Booth. "Dad!" Parker exclaimed, tugging his dad's sleeve.

Booth reached down to ruffle his son's hair. "Sorry buddy."

"Dad, you're making that face again."

Booth quirked his brow and laughed. "What face?"

Parker spun the football in his hands. "The face you made when Dr. Bones left." Parker kicked at the grass. "Will you keep making that face until she comes back?"

Booth shrugged his shoulders, astonished by his young son's perceptiveness. "Probably."

Parker sighed audibly. "I hope Dr. Bones comes back soon."

Booth ruffled his son's hair again. "Me too buddy. Me too."

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This wasn't her. To be consumed by emotions was irrational. This was some irrational form of herself. She was laying on the bed in her hotel room, clutching her cell phone in one hand, and bottle of wine in the other. She wasn't drunk... yet.

Tears began to flow freely from her eyes as she realized that this pain was caused by the separation. Separation from something she desperately needed, rather, someone.

The fissures had cracked completely through her emotionally distant exterior. She was broken, she was raw, and she needed her partner to pull her back together. Never had she felt this kind of pain, in her heart. In her head. In every sob-filled breath.

She placed the phone to her ear, her breath hitching in her throat. She choked back a sob as she reached the voicemail. "Booth...?"

This was the beginning of the death of the rational anthropologist.

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**A/N: I have the next two chapters planned. Sure to have one or more based on the season finale so keep your fingers crossed that it hits me with some good material. comments please, my friends.**


	6. Parallel

**Disclaimer: Bones originally belongs to Kathy Reichs, but is currently under the great care of Fox, Hart, Deschanel, and Boreanaz.**

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The next morning Brennan rolled over and glanced at the clock. She had remains to examine in an hour. It was early still; Brennan rolled out of bed and glanced at her phone. No messages. No missed calls. It shouldn't bother her. It didn't bother her. She glanced at the tissues strewn all over her hotel bed and the empty wine bottle that had tipped over on the bedside table. Rationality thrown to the wind, Brennan realized she was a mess, and a bit of a slob.

At this point, any other woman would call Booth back. Mend her mistake. Blame it on lack of sleep, or the alcohol, or a sudden lapse in judgment. She would do none of those things. Brennan headed towards the small bathroom to get ready for the day of work ahead of her. She had lasted two months without him so far, what was one more day?

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After Booth dropped Parker back off at Rebecca's, he drove straight over to the Jeffersonian.

A grinning Angela, who had just received Booth's phone call, greeted him with a hug as he came up to her.

"Thanks, Ange." He said, dangling the spare set of keys to Brennan's apartment that the artist had just handed him.

"No problem." Angela grinned as she watched Booth stride away, a purpose in his step.

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After rummaging through various things in his partner's apartment, Booth had seen one scrap of lace and one feminine product too many. But he had also found what he had been looking for; he booted up her laptop and made reservations for a flight that day.

Ticket in one hand and travel suitcase in the other, Booth made it to the airport, via Hodgins driving. Hodgins gave him a manly punch on the shoulder, wishing him luck to bring back the woman of his dreams. If not too cliché, at least a fitting and believable statement.

Booth sighed and headed in, realizing that this trip may be the death of all he had known before.

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She is tired from the day, caked in mud, shirt stained with sweat. She slides the key card through the reader and pushes the door open; a wave of cool air greets her. She flicks on the light and something more than air sits waiting for her.

"Booth?"

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**A/N: Going for some parallelism. Anyone catch it?**


	7. Partners

**Disclaimer: Bones originally belongs to Kathy Reichs, but is currently under the great care of Fox, Hart, Deschanel, and Boreanaz.**

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Booth charm-smiled and stood to greet his partner. "You look... great."

Brennan gave him a look that said 'don't even'.

"I've been working with remains all day, in the hot sun, digging in the mud. What are you doing here, and how did you get in?"

Booth held up a key card. "Told them I was family and it was urgent." He shrugged, the charm grin still on his lips. He couldn't help it, after two months he finally felt whole again. Like everything was right. He didn't want to press, didn't want to ask, but then again that was why he had come here. "Bones, are you okay?"

Brennan busied herself unpacking her things from the day. "Fine."

"By your message," Booth pressed. "You didn't sound fine."

Brennan stood and glared. "It was a momentary lapse in rationality on my part. I apologize."

Booth stepped closer to his partner. "If I thought this was something you could just shrug off, I wouldn't be here." Booth hooked a finger under Brennan's chin and looked right into her eyes, lowering his voice. "There's more to this. We can't just ignore it anymore."

And Brennan knew that they weren't talking about her phone call anymore. Booth's lips were nearly touching hers. "I should go clean up." She insisted.

Booth stared intently into her eyes. "Not if it means you're just going to avoid this."

Brennan pressed her hands against her partner's broad chest, trying to push him back, but he didn't budge. She had ways to move him, if she had really wanted to. But she was tired. Tired of running. Tired of pushing. Tired of being alone.

Booth pressed his lips to Brennan's lightly, and she pressed back. They kissed again, more heatedly. And again as their tongues began to explore each other's mouths. Instead of pushing away, Brennan grabbed Booth's collar to pull him in closer and kissed him with a passion reminiscent of the kiss from their first case.

They both broke apart, out of breath. "I should really go clean up." Brennan could feel her heart pounding in her chest.

Booth swallowed and nodded. "Right. I'll just," He cleared his throat. "Wait here." He gestured to the couch.

They stood awkwardly for a few minutes, avoiding one another's gazes.

"I'm glad you came." Brennan muttered softly, before heading off to go clean up.


	8. Death II

**Disclaimer: Bones originally belongs to Kathy Reichs, but is currently under the great care of Fox, Hart, Deschanel, and Boreanaz. **

**A/N: sorry for the time lapse. the muse escaped me. so busy with other things but now "he's" back. **

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As Brennan finished cleaning up, she made what she thought was the most rational decision of the past two months. She left the bathroom and went to where Booth was sitting.

"Woah Bones!" Booth jumped up. "Don't you want to, you know? Maybe put something on?" He asked, glancing his partner up and down.

"Why?" She questioned. "Is there a need for me to be modest? Nudity is nothing to be ashamed of Booth. In fact there are whole cultures that-"

"That don't need to walk out naked in front of their partner, okay Bones?" Booth interrupted, shifting awkwardly from foot to foot and trying to focus his attention anywhere other than his partner's unclothed form.

"I thought you said there was more to this now. We aren't just partners?" Brennan questioned, taking a step towards Booth.

"Right." Booth cleared his throat, staring down at his shoes. "But I meant we should talk about this. Not just, get into this right away."

"It's been five years." Brennan stated, throwing Booth's own words back at him. "And you are correct, I wasn't alright. Now, isn't this why you're here? I assume you've thought about it. I know I have." Brennan was calmly moving closer and closer to her partner.

"No Bones, I was here to make sure that you were alright." Booth explained. "And because I've been waiting two months to see you again." He admitted. "But I didn't come here for this. You should know me better than that."

Brennan finally closed the gap between herself and Booth, tempting him. "It's just a biological urge that needs to be fulfilled. That's all it is Booth." She reached her arms around his neck, now flat against him. His clothing rubbing against her bare skin.

"That's not true." Booth mumbled into his partner's neck. "Between us, it means more. It means so much more."

And Brennan's lips were on his and his lips were leaving marks on her neck. She began tugging at his belt buckle and his shirt fell to the floor. They moved to the bed together as the anthropologist finally broke the walls of her loving FBI partner.

This was the death of the boundaries between them.

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They awoke in the early morning hours. Booth rubbed Brennan's back gently, tracing circles here or there.

"Mmm," Brennan turned to him sleepily. "That was most enjoyable."

Booth sighed, content that the woman he loved was finally in his arms. "I've been waiting five years for that."

Brennan smiled. "I know. Was it worth waiting?" She traced his lips lightly with her finger.

Booth nodded, kissing her fingertip. "Of course it was worth it."

Brennan pulled away suddenly, distance noticeable in her eyes. "But, we're not compatible. Not really. We simply filled a biological urge with one another. Granted, it was the best of its kind. But we're just not compatible. I'm a scientist. I can't change and involve myself in a long term relationship."

Booth stared at her, completely shocked. How had things shifted so quickly between them, when everything had felt so right just moments ago. He stared straight into her distant ice-blue eyes.

"You can't just do this now. Not after five years."

But it seemed their dance with death was far from over.

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**A/N: comments please.**


	9. Mutual Death

**Disclaimer: Bones originally belongs to Kathy Reichs, but is currently under the great care of Fox, Hart, Deschanel, and Boreanaz. **

**A/N: sorry for the time lapse. the muse escaped me... again. Jeez, I wish he'd stick around.**

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Death had come over them. Death was in the distance, the separation, the aftermath of sex, the choice. Death came with the choice of the anthropologist, who had let rationality die for a night, but no longer. Because she couldn't deal with more abandonment in her life.

There was death in him, a death in the heart of the FBI Agent, because to him it had meant more, his open heart had failed him again in the attempt to love his partner openly.

"Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different outcome."

But there was death now, not insanity. Because they weren't doing the same thing over again, they were reverting back.

As Booth left Brennan's hotel room that morning, death fully enveloped them both.

She would revert back to a life purely devoted to anthropology.

He would revert back to a life of gambling.

The dam broke, hot and heavy. The aftermath of a meeting of two souls was as devastating as a hurricane to their partnership.

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Red lights flashed the word "POOL" in neon letters across the dark roads. Booth turned off and pulled into a parking space. He swallowed hard. As he left the SUV, he reached into his pocket and fiddled with dice. The dice he had kept in the same pocket since he had started trying to quit. It was a firm, corporeal reminder of the problem from his past.

Booth pushed open the door to the bar, standing on the threshold, spinning the dice between his fingers. He had heard somewhere that falling off the wagon was easier than getting back on. There was a part of him that hoped it was wrong, there was a larger part of him that hoped it was right.

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"Hey man, you sure you wanna go 'nother round?"

Booth glanced at the man across from him, couldn't have been more than twenty-five.

"Yeah. I'm sure." Booth tossed down some crumpled bills on the table. He took another swig of beer and grabbed his pool stick.

"Alright man." The guy shook his head and tossed down his own bills.

Booth was insistent on getting her out of his head. If it took a comeback game and more than a few beers, well maybe that was worth it.

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Booth stumbled over the threshold, looking more despondent than before. He had lost his one chance at a romance with his partner, and his pool game. He might've been a gambler, but obviously not a very good one.

He had less than twenty-four hours to get back to work and a blood alcohol level that said otherwise. He couldn't drive, not tonight.

Things were looking less-than-hopeful for white knight, Seeley Booth.

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**A/N: Reviews please. **


	10. To Vegas From my Heart

**Disclaimer:** Bones originally belongs to Kathy Reichs, but is currently under the great care of Fox, Hart, Deschanel, and Boreanaz.

**A/N: **I've had to make some story decisions because my muse has been running dry. This chapter of compatible is going to lead to a companion piece entitled the same as this chapter: **To Vegas From My Heart**

*****Please, loyal readers, head over to that story of mine- Alert, Fav, and R&R.

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Brennan had just returned from a remain recovery in caves near the Badlands of South Dakota. Ever since her one-night of soul melding with Booth, she had been traveling more frequently to examine remains. She had just gotten in that afternoon and begun to unpack, taking a quick shower, and started to re-pack her bags. Brennan had no intention of staying in D.C. for long.

A shrill ringing came from her left pant pocket; she flipped her cell open. "Brennan."

"Hey Sweetie, are you ready for some well-deserved fun?" Angela's relaxed voice came through the phone.

"Yes. It'll be quite enjoyable to spend some time off with you." Brennan replied, cradling the phone on the crook of her shoulder to hold it in place while she packed.

"All of your time. You are going to spend _all_ of your vacation time with us. I won't take no for an answer." Angela persisted.

"Well, I'm really not sure if-..."

Angela cut her friend off. "Great. We'll see you tonight." And she hung up before Brennan could object further.

* * *

Brennan sighed and tossed her phone on the bed. A life of living on the road wasn't all that strange to her. She enjoyed travel. But due to recent events, D.C. seemed less like home. Her apartment reflected the effects of living on the road. And although it had distressed the head of the Jeffersonian, soon the museum and medico-legal lab became a place of the past. Brennan's 'family' had splintered, the center no longer held, so really there was nothing holding her there.

She finished packing up her suitcase and glanced at the clock. Soon she would be on a flight to visit her best friend and this place would be just a memory yet again.

* * *

"Sweetie!" Angela exclaimed, beaming at her friend and holding her arms wide open.

Brennan accepted the hug and couldn't help herself from grinning. "Ange, it's great to see you." Just being with her friend made her feel like she had returned to a familial setting.

"It's wonderful to see you. I just, can't even believe you're here!" Angela squeezed her friend before letting go and surveying her, making a mental note that Brennan seemed worn around the edges, her smile strained.

"Dr. B," Hodgins' smile was equally as warm and comforting. "Glad you could join us."

Brennan nodded and hugged Hodgins in turn. "Of course. It's my pleasure."

Friends now rejoined, they headed towards the town-car that would take them back to Angela and Jack's new temporary abode.

* * *

As they settled in the back and Hodgins rattled off directions to the driver, Angela gave Brennan another once over. She had no idea the circumstances that had caused her friend to leave her hometown and start traveling so frequently, but she knew it had something to do with a certain FBI Agent and a certain event. Brennan had alluded to it, but never fully explained. Such was phone call and email repartee with Brennan. But now that Angela had her here, for three whole weeks, she planned to drag all the dirty details out of Brennan.

"What? Am I dressed alright?" Brennan asked.

Angela realized she had been staring. She shook her head and laughed. "You're fine sweetie. You're going to love the new house."

Brennan nodded. "It's it as lavish as the last?"

Hodgins chuckled as slid next to his wife. "Not quite."

All friends rode in compatible camaraderie until they arrived at the latest Hodgins' estate.

* * *

Brennan was not unfamiliar with wealth. She herself was wealthy. But she didn't exactly _live_ in it. The way Hodgins and Angela did. This was their fourth new home, since Paris. They hadn't stayed the full year in Paris, leaving early with a yen to travel. Angela had always been a free spirit; it made sense that her whims had carried over to her married life. Hodgins was completely content traveling all over the world, and he had the money to do it.

"This place is beautiful, Ange." Brennan said, awed as she entered the refurnished studio.

"Yeah." Angela smiled. "Since I left the Jeffersonian, I've been able to get back to my art and traveling has been a great inspiration."

Brennan set her bags down by the door and walked back, past the sitting area with a couch and flat screen, past the stainless steel kitchen with marble countertops, to take a look at the wall that displayed canvasses of Angela's work.

On the wall of canvasses each painting had it's own individual light. They were all turned on, to illuminate the work.

"This piece is beautiful, Angela." Brennan complimented, squinting at one of the Seine painted at sunset. There was another of dawn over a desert plateau. It was a place that Angela had sworn she would never return to, five years ago, but since then it seemed she had been given her second chance. Brennan turned to Angela, astonished at how vividly she remembered that time in her life. A time when she had just begun her daily partnership with Booth...

Angela came up next to Brennan. "I know what you're thinking about." Angela said softly. She watched Brennan nod slowly. "I remember that time too. When Kirk had shown up dead, and Danny had gone missing." Ange paused. "I swore I'd never go back. But, I remembered what you told me, about there being no unique moment in life." Angela laughed though her voice was laden with emotion. She swiped at her eyes. "It was nice to go there with Hodgins. He was my second chance at true love. You were right. Do you remember how you said it?"

Brennan nodded, her own voice quiet to hide the building emotions. "I promised. From my heart." She turned to glance at her friend, realizing that they were both crying. She chuckled at wiped at her eyes. "Already some girl-talk and I've barely gotten in the door." Brennan glanced around. Where's Hodgins?"

Angela smiled and laughed. "He's getting the pool ready. You look like you could use a relaxing swim. Up for it?"

Brennan nodded. "Sure." She grabbed her bags and she and Angela headed upstairs.

Angela saw this as her moment, as they headed back towards Angela's room. "Bren?"

Brennan stopped as Angela placed a hand on her arm. "What exactly happened between you and Booth?"

* * *

**A/N: Comments please. Compatible will show up now as '**complete**'. For the rest of this story head over to my new fic, a continuance: **To Vegas, From My Heart**. Check it out and please review your souls out... which sounds strange, but keeps the muse happy.**

**** New story should be posted with two chapters by 7pm US central time. ****

**Allusion to 'Kirk' and 'Danny': Refers to Angela's lover and friend from an episode in Season 1, titled 'The Skull in the Desert'. **


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